Auxin plays crucial roles in multiple developmental processes, such as embryogenesis, organogenesis, cell determination and division, as well as tropic responses. These processes are finely ...coordinated by the auxin, which requires the polar distribution of auxin within tissues and cells. The intercellular directionality of auxin flow is closely related to the asymmetric subcellular location of PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin efflux transporters. All PIN proteins have a conserved structure with a central hydrophilic loop domain, which harbors several phosphosites targeted by a set of protein kinases. The activities of PIN proteins are finely regulated by diverse endogenous and exogenous stimuli at multiple layers-including transcriptional and epigenetic levels, post-transcriptional modifications, subcellular trafficking, as well as PINs' recycling and turnover-to facilitate the developmental processes in an auxin gradient-dependent manner. Here, the recent advances in the structure, evolution, regulation and functions of PIN proteins in plants will be discussed. The information provided by this review will shed new light on the asymmetric auxin-distribution-dependent development processes mediated by PIN transporters in plants.
Auxin plays a crucial role in the diverse cellular and developmental responses of plants across their lifespan. Plants can quickly sense and respond to changes in auxin levels, and these responses ...involve several major classes of auxin-responsive genes, including the
(
) family, the
(
) family,
(
), and the
(
) family. Aux/IAA proteins are short-lived nuclear proteins comprising several highly conserved domains that are encoded by the auxin early response gene family. These proteins have specific domains that interact with ARFs and inhibit the transcription of genes activated by ARFs. Molecular studies have revealed that Aux/IAA family members can form diverse dimers with
to regulate genes in various ways. Functional analyses of Aux/IAA family members have indicated that they have various roles in plant development, such as root development, shoot growth, and fruit ripening. In this review, recently discovered details regarding the molecular characteristics, regulation, and protein-protein interactions of the Aux/IAA proteins are discussed. These details provide new insights into the molecular basis of the Aux/IAA protein functions in plant developmental processes.
Polycystins are a family of eight-transmembrane proteins united by sequence homology. The name stems from the identification of mutations in genes encoding polycystin-1 and -2 in polycystic kidney ...diseases. This review discusses recent topics in polycystin research, with a focus on the role of polycystin-1 and polycystin-2 in primary cilia and the cell cycle. Polycystins appear to play key roles during development, but a major question is their function in mature organs. Their roles in primary cilia, shear stress sensation, alteration of intracellular calcium, and planar cell polarity are examined. The third-hit hypothesis of polycystic kidney disease is discussed.
Featuring the simultaneous generation of a library of compounds from a certain intermediate, divergent synthesis has found increasing applications in the construction of natural products and ...potential medicines. Inspired by this approach, presented herein is a general strategy to introduce functionality, in a divergent manner, into covalent organic frameworks (COFs). This modular protocol includes two stages of covalent assembly, through which functional COFs can be constructed by a three‐step transformation of a key platform molecule, such as 4,7‐dibromo‐2‐chloro‐1H‐benzodimidazole (DBCBI). Constructed herein are four types of chiral COFs (CCOFs) from DBCBI by nucleophilic substitution, Suzuki coupling, and imine formation. The unique array of eight isoframework CCOFs allowed investigation of their catalytic performance and structure–activity relationship in an asymmetric amination reaction.
COF it up: A divergent strategy has been used to construct a combinatorial library of functional covalent organic frameworks (COFs) from a platform molecule. An array of eight isoframework chiral COFs allowed investigation of their catalytic performance and structure–activity relationship in an asymmetric amination reaction.
This study investigated the association between syntactic awareness and L2 Chinese passage-level reading comprehension among 209 Chinese as a second language adult-learners. The participants were ...administered a character knowledge test, a vocabulary knowledge test, a morphological awareness test, a grammatical judgment and correction test, a word order test, and two reading comprehension tests (multiple-choice questions and cloze test). Partial correlation analyses showed that the participants' performance in two syntactic awareness tasks were significantly positively correlated with their passage-level reading comprehension. Multiple regression analyses revealed that syntactic awareness made a unique contribution to L2 Chinese reading even when the effects of age, major, gender, length of learning Chinese, character knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, and morphological awareness were controlled for. In addition, the word order knowledge had a stronger predicting power to L2 Chinese reading comprehension compared to the grammatical judgment/correction ability.
Triangular fuzzy multiplicative preference relation (TFMPR) is a widely used preference representation framework in the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). In this article, we develop a ...triangular fuzzy multiplication-based equation to characterize transitivity among original fuzzy assessments in a consistent TFMPR. A geometric consistency index is then proposed to measure the inconsistency of TFMPRs. By capturing row fuzziness proportionalities and the difference between the row increasing and decreasing part fuzziness indices, this article establishes two logarithmic least square models to find normalized fuzzy weights from two kinds of TFMPRs. The two logarithmic least square models are further integrated into one whose analytic solution is found by the method of Lagrange multipliers. A novel method is put forward to check the acceptability of TFMPRs by both examining acceptable consistency and acceptable fuzziness. This article devises a parametric defuzzification approach to obtain the real-valued weights of criteria for aggregating the local normalized fuzzy weights into the global fuzzy weights in the triangular FAHP. A comparative analysis of the proposed model with existing fuzzy eigenvector methods and fuzzy average methods is carried out by a numerical example with four TFMPRs to clarify its validity and merits. An outstanding teacher award selection problem is provided to show the practicality of the proposed triangular FAHP.
The rapid evolution of cell‐based theranostics has attracted extensive attention due to their unique advantages in biomedical applications. However, the inherent functions of cells alone cannot meet ...the needs of malignant tumor treatment. Thus endowing original cells with new characteristics to generate multifunctional living cells may hold a tremendous promise. Here, the nanoengineering method is used to combine customized liposomes with neutrophils, generating oxygen‐carrying sonosensitizer cells with acoustic functions, which are called Acouscyte/O2, for the visual diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Specifically, oxygen‐carried perfluorocarbon and temoporfin are encapsulated into cRGD peptide modified multilayer liposomes (C‐ML/HPT/O2), which are then loaded into live neutrophils to obtain Acouscyte/O2. Acouscyte/O2 can not only carry a large amount of oxygen but also exhibits the ability of long circulation, inflammation‐triggered recruitment, and decomposition. Importantly, Acouscyte/O2 can be selectively accumulated in tumors, effectively enhancing tumor oxygen levels, and triggering anticancer sonodynamics in response to ultrasound stimulation, leading to complete obliteration of tumors and efficient extension of the survival time of tumor‐bearing mice with minimal systemic adverse effects. Meanwhile, the tumors can be monitored in real time by temoporfin‐mediated fluorescence imaging and perfluorocarbon (PFC)‐microbubble‐enhanced ultrasound imaging. Therefore, the nanoengineered neutrophils, i.e., Acouscyte/O2, are a new type of multifunctional cellular drug, which provides a new platform for the diagnosis and sonodynamic therapy of solid malignant tumors.
Nanoengineered neutrophil sonosensitizers are developed for visual sonodynamic therapy (SDT) of solid malignant tumors. Acouscyte/O2 not only has an enhanced multilevel active targeting but also provides oxygen to enhance SDT effects to eliminate tumors, maintain the appearance, and real‐time multimode imaging, which provides a promising theranostic strategy for solid malignant tumors.
Recently, two alternative targets in insect periphery nerve system have been explored for environmentally-friendly approaches in insect pest management, namely odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and ...odorant receptors (ORs). Located in insect antennae, OBPs are thought to be involved in the transport of odorants to ORs for the specific signal transduction of behaviorally active odorants. There is rich information on OBP binding affinity and molecular docking to bioactive compounds as well as ample 3D crystal structures due to feasible production of recombinant proteins. Although these provide excellent opportunities for them to be considered as pest control targets and a tool to design pest control agents, the debates on their binding specificity represent an obstacle. On the other hand, ORs have recently been functionally characterized with increasing evidence for their specificity, sensitivity and functional roles in pest behaviors. However, a major barrier to use ORs for semiochemical discovery is the lack of 3D crystal structures. Thus, OBPs and ORs have not been analyzed comparatively together so far for their feasibility as pest control targets. Here, we summarize the state of OBPs and ORs research in terms of its application in insect pest management. We discuss the suitability of both proteins as pest control targets and their selection toward the discovery of new potent semiochemicals. We argue that both proteins represent promising targets for pest control and can be used to identify new super-ligands likely present in nature and with reduced risk of resistance development than insect pesticides currently used in agriculture. We discuss that with the massive identification of OBPs through RNA-seq and improved binding affinity measurements, these proteins could be reconsidered as suitable targets for semiochemical discovery.
3D bioprinting technology provides programmable and customizable platforms to engineer cell‐laden constructs mimicking human tissues for a wide range of biomedical applications. However, the ...encapsulated cells are often restricted in spreading and proliferation by dense biomaterial networks from gelation of bioinks. Herein, a cell‐benign approach is reported to directly bioprint porous‐structured hydrogel constructs by using an aqueous two‐phase emulsion bioink. The bioink, which contains two immiscible aqueous phases of cell/gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) mixture and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), is photocrosslinked to fabricate predesigned cell‐laden hydrogel constructs by extrusion bioprinting or digital micromirror device‐based stereolithographic bioprinting. The porous structure of the 3D‐bioprinted hydrogel construct is formed by subsequently removing the PEO phase from the photocrosslinked GelMA hydrogel. Three different cell types (human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and NIH/3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts) within the 3D‐bioprinted porous hydrogel patterns show enhanced cell viability, spreading, and proliferation compared to the standard (i.e., nonporous) hydrogel constructs. The 3D bioprinting strategy is believed to provide a robust and versatile platform to engineer porous‐structured tissue constructs and their models for a variety of applications in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, drug development, and personalized therapeutics.
An aqueous two‐phase emulsion bioink is developed to create bioprinted porous‐structured hydrogel constructs. Interconnected micropores within the bioprinted hydrogel constructs enhance the growth, spreading, and proliferation of encapsulated living cells.
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